Approximately one year ago, my husband announced that we were going camping during the summer. We talk about future trips and places we want to go, all the time. I wasn’t quite sure that we were going to actually go camping, for real. As it got closer to June, I realized that we were going to Yosemite, and it was time to start planning. I had never really “camped” before, so I started doing some research, online of course!

Five Steps On How I Planned Our Yosemite Camping Trip Using The Internet

1. Visit Your Destination’s Official Website

I had never been to Yosemite before, so I started at the beginning, Yosemite’s Official Website, via The National Park Service. I wanted to know what there was to do while we were on this vacation. And also, what kinds of activities would be suitable for a 7-year boy who was the only kid in a group of fourteen people. I planned their page on Plan Your Visit, which featured directions, fees, hours, reservations, things to do, and also videos for planning.

Yosemite has thirteen campgrounds and reservations have to be made a year in advance for many of them. Luckily, we were traveling with some expert Yosemite travelers whom had already made reservations a year prior. My husband advised me that we were staying at Housekeeping Camp. My husband already advised me that we were not tent camping, but he also gave me a vague description of our actual lodging. I was able to research Housekeeping Camps lodging and amenities. I learned about the sizes of our bear boxes, where we would take showers, and also what types of items were found in the camp store.

Squirrels were a popular topic on any article that I found about Yosemite. Squirrels are everywhere in Yosemite. And after spending almost a week camping in Yosemite, I have learned that these are a special type of squirrel. These squirrels are evil geniuses. They are super smart. Their main objective is food. They will do anything to get to your food. Yes, you have to worry about the famous black bears at Yosemite. But, there are thousands of little squirrels running around the campsites. It is almost like there are platoons of squirrels in the squirrel army. They meet all day and conspire on how to steal food. My husband caught two of them running around where are beds were. He finally noticed that they were sneaking out beef jerky, piece by piece.

We were traveling with some very experience Yosemite campers. Our friend, Laurra sent us a list via email of things to bring/pack/have. I trolled all kinds of forums and websites for additional items and suggestions. I kept adding to Laurra’s original list. Bringing a set of Christmas Lights to mark your camping area is GENIUS. It gets very dark at night, and trying to find your campsite after going to the bathroom can be difficult. I never got lost because I always looked for our red/white/blue Christmas lights. I am lucky that our family hoards lights.

3. Do Research On Camping Equipment For Reviews and Best Prices

Using lists that we found online and via friends, we were able to check some things off that we already had. As first time campers, we had to buy quite a few things though. We went to several sporting goods store locally and stalked things we wanted in advance. As our trip got closer, we really researched the items that we wanted.

One of the most important things that we needed for the trip was a large cooler. We were going to be camping for six days, and that meant five breakfasts, lunches, and dinners to make. We had to make sure that all of our perishable items were going to stay cold while we were camping. There is nothing worse than having your food go bad. I started looking for 5 or 6-day coolers online. I found several that I liked, and then went a step further. I would do searches on the specific model that I was looking at and looked at reviews/complaints. We settled on a Coleman 100-quart Xtreme 5-day Cooler. After reading reviews, I knew how to properly stack the dry ice around our food to keep it frozen, and when to start adding bags of ice to the cooler to keep everything fresh. By the way, the dry ice stayed intact from Saturday night at 5pm till about Wednesday afternoon-ish. After that we added a 10-lb bag of ice each day. We actually took food home and it went straight back into our refrigerator.

My husband received a Weber Q gas grill as a service award through his company right before we left on our trip. I searched online and found accessories to go with the gas grill. One thing in particular that caught my eye was a griddle to put on top of the grill for cooking. He used that griddle every day while camping for making eggs, bacon, and pancakes. I wouldn’t have bought the griddle without finding reviews that others had left.

4. Keep A Spreadsheet and/or Pinterest Board To Organize Lists

As I said prior, our friend, Laurra, emailed us a list of things to bring and pack for our camping trip. Her family has gone every year for the past thirty years. My husband and I added things to the list as time went on. We kept it as a Google doc so that we could access it when we needed it. After going on the trip, we added more things to the list. We plan to re-organize the list and add check boxes for next year’s trip. We can then send the list to everyone in the group. We also made a menu plan with items listed for each meal. Every family was in charge of one dinner for the week. We input what everyone was bringing and making so that there would not be an overlap and more variety.

Pinterest was awesome for planning this trip. I went online and found recipes, games, crafts, and ideas for camping trips. I used Pinterest and created a “Summer Camping Trip” board to organize it all. When it got closer to our trip, I reviewed all of my “pins” and ideas with my husband. We used several recipes that I had “pinned” and everyone in our group was impressed. They kept asking where I got my recipes. I replied, “The Internet and Pinterest are My BFF”.

5. Screenshots

I knew that I was bringing a few recipes with me on our camping trip. A few of these were first time attempts and I couldn’t remember all of the steps. Rather than printing out the recipes, I screenshot the recipes from the websites that I found them on. I knew that there would be little to no Internet while we were actually in Yosemite, so I made sure to do all of these screenshots ahead of time. My camera roll on my iPhone was like a little mini cookbook.

When it was our turn for our family to make dinner while camping, we made Crockpot BBQ Chicken and Campfire Orange Cakes. Yes, we had access to electricity to use our crock pots. We had three crockpots going that night, two for chicken and one for the beans. The Campfire Orange Cakes shocked everyone. They were delicious, and very orange-y.

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Not all of our camping trip was OCD planned, I promise. I just wanted to make sure that we had all of the gear and food organized. We were far from a large sporting goods store and groceries can get expensive in Yosemite Valley. We had plenty of food for our trip, and we were prepared for anything with all of our supplies. It is probably a good thing that we have a large truck.

Yosemite was beautiful and we had a great time. I survived my first big camping trip. I was definitely be going again next year!

These cupcakes are super simple to make but they will totally impress your guests for the upcoming 4th of July festivities. I’ve posted about Rainbow and Camouflage Cupcakes before, so this recipe is just a variation of those previous recipes. I made these for my son’s birthday party in May and they were a huge hit!

1 cup buttermilk, in place of the water called for on the box (the box will call for more water than the buttermilk you are using)

Vegetable oil (the amount on the box)

4 large eggs (in place of the number called for on the box)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

Directions:

Using substitutions above, follow the box instructions to mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at low to medium speed until moistened, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to high and beat until thick, 2 minutes longer.

Beat on med-high/high for about 3 more minutes. Taste. If it still tastes sugary, beat for another minute.

Note: This makes about… 1.5 qts so I can usually frost about 2-3 dozen cupcakes depending on how much I pipe.

*You can add Wilton icing color once again, to color the icing/frosting. I use a Wilton 12-Piece Cupcake Decorating Set to pipe on the icing. I used the 1M Star Tip on my cupcakes. I then used a container of red, white, and blue sprinkles on top of my icing for that extra patriotic touch.

Jessica Johnson from Keeping up with the Johnsons started a little project called PinterTest Kitchen. This project basically is where you post about things that you have tried or made from the ideas that you “pin” on Pinterest. As of right now, I have 36 boards and 1154 pins on Pinterest. 1154 pins is a lot. I’ve done a few projects that I’ve found on there so I thought I would join in and share.

Halloween Bunting

Of course, I caught on the bunting trend like everyone else. My only problem is that I don’t sew. I found this Banner Tutorial awhile ago. I got all of the fabric for a Halloween theme. I cut out the banners, and got the bias tape. I prepped everything….and then outsourced the sewing to Alissa from Rags to Stitches. Alissa is always sewing something. I bribed her with usage of a basket of mine that she covets. I’m going to start looking for some fabric for a Christmas themed bunting next. Hopefully by the time I’m ready, I will be able to do the sewing myself.

Besides poking myself in the fingers with the pins and outsourcing the sewing, this project was a big win! The author of the tutorial has a great template for the banners also. I have permanently saved that template.

I made a few extra banners and sent them to my cousin-in-law Jackie in Arizona. I’m going to make her some Christmas ones too.

CrockPot BBQ Chicken

Ironically, I tried a recipe from Jessica last month. In October, she posted an easy recipe for CrockPot BBQ Chicken. I’ve had a crockpot for quite some time and I barely use it. I thought this simple recipe was something that I could do. I got all the ingredients and made it on a Monday. The recipe says to cook it between 4-6 hours. I found that 5.5 hours is the perfect time for it. We came home from soccer practice and our house smelled so good.

Angry Husband and Angry Kid are super picky. They ate every bite of this chicken. I served it with baked beans and corn, plus a loaf of fresh french bread. This chicken is now a family favorite.

Another Pinterest Win for me!

Nutter Butter Ghosts

I’ve known about this recipe for Nutter Butter Ghosts for about two years. I always forgot about it when it came time for Halloween. This year, I remembered. My friend Kelly posted about the recipe, that she actually got from her cousin Marta. Marta has the step-by-step directions. Yes, it looks super easy right?

Well, I was dumb and forgot about the double broiler part. I burnt my white chocolate upon my first attempt. I had to make a call for help to Kelly. She advised me that you cannot put chocolate straight onto heat because it will burn. She talked me through the double broiler method and the microwave version. The microwave version is to put the white chocolate into a bowl, and microwave it for 30 seconds. You take it out, and stir it. You put the bowl back into the microwave for 30 seconds, and stir again. You keep using 30 second intervals until the chocolate is finally melted. I had to do this three times.

But I survived and the cookies turned out awesome. Even my parents were impressed.

So far, I’ve had no Pinterest fails. I am picky about the projects that I chose. And I don’t like to lose. Hopefully, I can practice on some Christmas-themed goodies this month.

Have you completed a project or recipe from Pinterest? What was your favorite thing that you’ve done? What projects should I or other people stay away from?

It’s here! It’s here!

After literally MONTHS of creating, the “50+ Top Blogs All Time Favorite Recipes” cookbook is HERE!!! You may have seen a sneak peek of this gorgeous recipe book this past month. We hope you have been anxiously awaiting it. Now, until the end of August, it’s available for purchase. But wait, scratch that, it’s not a purchase. The best part is…

it’s a donation!

100% of your donation will go to the American Red Cross to help the many people who have been affected by recent natural disasters around the world.

After seeing the devastation in Japan, several top blogs teamed together wanting to somehow make a difference. More than 50 blogs donated one of their favorite recipes to be complied into an incredible cookbook designed by chickabug (design talent was 100% donated as well). Basically a lot of people worked really hard to make something extraordinary. Now, it’s in your hands to make a difference.

This one-of-a-kind cookbook was originally only going to be offered as an E-book for a $10 donation. But after receiving feedback from readers, we realized that many of you want a physical copy. We approached our favorite publisher, Paper Coterie, who was willing to donate 100% of the supplies, and 100% of the cost of printing for this amazing cause. Are you feeling the warm tinglies yet?! We are!!! This started out as one person having an idea. Now over 50 blogs and an amazing publisher are involved and now it’s YOUR turn.

Together we canwill make a difference. The E-book is for sale here for a $1o donation. If you have a computer in your kitchen or an electronic reader, (ipad, kindle,etc.) this is the copy for you. You can just click on the recipe you want from the table of contents and it will take you right there. It’s sweet.

You will be amazed at the quality of this book. The only extra expense you will have will be for shipping ($4 or more depending on where you live and how many copies you order).

Thank you, thank you, thank you. You can smile knowing you made a difference to someone, somewhere. And you can smile because you will have a beautiful full color recipe book with gorgeous pictures and delicious recipes to try. We truly hope you love the cookbook. We think you will. You might just want to buy one for your mom, sister, and mother-in-law for Christmas.

Please share this post with your friends and family on your Blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Let’s make this go VIRAL! How cool would that be?

Remember 100% of the proceeds will be benefiting the American Red Cross.

*The American Red Cross name is used with its permission, which in no way constitutes an endorsement, express or implied, of any product, service, company, individual or political position. For more information about the American Red Cross, please call 1-800-HELP NOW or email info@usa.redcross.org.

I sometimes try to be Super Mom. But with working full-time, I sometimes have to outsource. I called my BFF Stacey the weekend before Angry Kid’s birthday party, and asked a favor. This was not a small favor, but a relatively huge favor. I asked her if she could make a rainbow layered birthday cake for Angry Kid’s party. For some crazy reason, she agreed to do it. I had almost all of the supplies (well colors for the cake), and I took them all over to her house. While I was there, I may have borrowed two large tables and some chairs too.

I also forgot to mention the fact that she’s NEVER made this cake before. I sent her some photos from the Internet.

Doesn’t the cake look delicious? I took this photo right after Stacey cut the first slice at the birthday party.

Stacey is also a smart BFF. She knew that I would probably want to post a tutorial of some kind on my blog. So she took photos along the way, and even typed up some tips for making the FAMOUS rainbow cake, well these cakes are sorta famous on Pinterest and parenting blogs.

Six (6) Layer Rainbow Cake Tutorial:

1. MIX-Make TWO (2) packages of white cake mix. Stacey used the stock ingredients. I add some extra items for my rainbow cupcake recipe, and they are listed in my blog post. Either recipe is fine, as in straight out of box, or added items.

2. DIVIDE-Divide the prepared cake mix into SIX (6) bowls equally, which equates to about 1 and 1/2 cups of batter per bowl.

3. COLOR-Color the batter in each bowl different colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple). Stacey used a combination of Duff Brand Color Gels, and Wilton Icing Colors. I had both of these brands in the box that I gave to Stacey. Stacey preferred the Duff brand because they were in a squeezable bottle.

4. PREP and GREASE-Prep the (6) cake pans for baking. Stacey used Pam with Flour spray to coat the pans. She HIGHLY recommends it. You don’t have to bake all (6) seperate layers at once. You can do a few at a time, and wait for them to cool, then bake more.

5. BAKE-Bake the cake layers according to the directions on the cake mix box.

6. COOL-Let the cakes cool.

7. CUT-Once the cakes are cooled, cut the rounded dome off the top of the cake. They need to lie flat, due to the layers. (IMPORTANT)

8. PRE-MADE BUTTERCREAM-Stacey pre-made a crap load of buttercream. I’m not sure of there is a definition for the specific amount that crap load indicates. Stacey uses THIS buttercream recipe which works like a charm every single time.

9. PREP BUTTERCREAM LAYERS-Stacey made thin layers of a frozen buttercream transfer the day before to speed up her assembly process. She traced the bottom of the cake pan on a piece of wax paper. She did this because she knew that the cake layers would be relatively thin, and prepping/freezing the buttercream would help the cake from crumbling.

11. HEIGHT-After assembling the cake, it should be approximately SEVEN (7) inches tall. It will FALL over if you don’t put dowels in it. Stacey learned from a friend that you can use straws in lieu of dowels. The straws are easier to trim that dowels too.

12. TRIM-Trim the excess from the straws that are holding the layers together.

13. FROST/ICING-Stacey did a “crumb coat” of frosting before she brought the cake to my house. She transported this cake for an approximate thirty minute drive. When she arrived at my house, we placed the cake in the freezer for approximately TEN (10) minutes. After the “crumb coat” had hardened a little, she then completed the frosting/icing of the cake. By doing a crumb coat and freezing it, the cake is easier to frost.

14. DECORATE-Place cake on cake plate or other serving platter. Finish off cake but placing decorative trim around the bottom, or other decorations on top of the cake. I made my own rainbow cake bunting with felt.

15. ENJOY CAKE-Take pictures of the finished cake, like tons. I’m a blogger, did you think I was talking about eating the cake? Once the cake is cut and eaten, depression starts. The cake was sooo awesome.

16. TAKE MORE PICTURES-There’s only one piece of cake left? Well of course, you need to document that. Take more pictures, post them EVERYWHERE!

Now how am I going to pay my BFF Stacey back? I owe her big time!!! It is probably a good thing that she likes to bake!

Today is the 1st day of March and it is a busy month for Angry Julie. The daughter of my best friend is turning SIX, and she is having a celebration. On the 17th, it is St. Patrick’s Day and the elementary school jogathon. I’m going to be the jogathon chair next year, so I have to pay extra special attention to what is going on that day. You know me, just trying to play SuperMom.

On the 19th, a life long friend is getting married in beautiful Malibu. I’m a bridesmaid in the wedding, and Angry Kid is the ring bearer. He doesn’t quite understand the concept of carrying a pillow. My mom and I took Angry Kid to the mall last week to look for suits. It was not fun looking for a suit in a size 5/6 in charcoal gray, but we found one. I took a picture to send to the future bride for approval. He just looks so adorable in the suit. All he needs is a pair of sunglasses to complete his look.

I’m still waiting to get my dress, and it is very close to the wedding. I have to get it altered and figure out my shoe situation. I am also looking for some kind of sweater or wrap to wear with it. I’m not impressed with my arms, and their fat.

I’m attempting to be a little more creative lately. I’m also driving my husband crazy with my creative agenda. Last week it was homemade Valentine’s for kindergarten, painting our bedroom, and over the weekend it was trying out some new recipes and a behavior chart.

When I’m working on these projects, I always have a vision in my head about how they will turn out. My visions don’t always come to fruition.

Don’t these marshmallows look delicious? Well they weren’t. But they are very pretty in my photo. I followed the instructions systematically. But I made a few mistakes. I think I put a tad too much vanilla extract in the mixer, which made certain sections of the marshmallows taste a little too sweet. I should have cut off the edges of the marshmallow chunk before I cut them into small squares. The edges were rubbery from the start, and the taste was uneven. I also needed to package the marshmallows once they were cut. They need to be put into a container so that they stay soft. So much for my Valentine’s Day treat that I was attempting to make. But I learned what to do next time, because yes, there will be a next time.

So I will be enjoying this Valentine’s Day without homemade marshmallows, cupcakes, or other treats that I did not make, and that is ok. At least I didn’t poison my family.

Angry Husband and I both work today. He was on vacation last week and we saw plenty of each other. So there will be no romantic candle lit dinners for us. But really…flowers, candy, and food on Valentine’s Day is really overpriced.

Halloween is probably my most favorite time of the year. I’m a huge fan of orange, and well the candy factor is also quite nice. I’ve started to decorate the house, and we have already attended one Halloween themed event at Disneyland. What a great way to start off the season. I’ve been seeing all kinds of great ideas lately on some of the blogs I read, and I thought I would share them with you.

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